For Those Who "crave" Starch, Are You Sure It's Not The Fiber Or The Salt?

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I have consistently satisfied my "carb cravings" by either eating unjuiced & dried fruits with all the fiber and/or taken an additional teaspoon of salt with my meals. During the period I've been paying attention to this, not even once has there been a vague hunger for potato or rice that wasn't effectively satisfied by something more peat-like instead.

Natural starches don't really come with salt anyway, so I'm assuming the craving is associative. If you started adding salt to other things you'd likely crave those things instead of starches. Sweet and salty popcorn is proof that sugar and salt can combine quite nicely, so although relatively unheard of it's probably possible to create both sugary and salty dishes. Salted caramel ice cream springs to mind.

I'm not anti-starch either. I think there's good reasons human beings have eaten starch, particularly starchy tubers, for so long.

In one year I have learned to differentiate between cravings and I can pretty much tell you that one can want (and feel satiated after) eating rice or potatoes, which is btw a different type of satiation.

Natural starches don't really come with salt anyway, so I'm assuming the craving is associative. If you started adding salt to other things you'd likely crave those things instead of starches. Sweet and salty popcorn is proof that sugar and salt can combine quite nicely, so although relatively unheard of it's probably possible to create both sugary and salty dishes. Salted caramel ice cream springs to mind.

I'm not anti-starch either. I think there's good reasons human beings have eaten starch, particularly starchy tubers, for so long.

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so salted fruit ? salted eggs with fruit ?

the peat article is confusing. was he referring to kellogs corn flakes and white bread or potatoes and masa harina ? or both ?

the peat diet has a type of nihilism about it. many cultures eat according to weather, the season and how you actually feel.

I don't really know, I don't get it too often and I always have starch or some junk food at hand I've had partial success with simple sugars, salt, coconut oil. It sucks because apart from the cravings, my body works better than usual then, but it's hard to bear. It almost feels like you are breaking a threshold and need some kind of opiaceous feeling to bring you back down to comfort, as if you aren't ready for that state yet.

We crave starch because the human being is the only animal to consume cooked starch in its natural diet and the human being the highest producing savilary and pancreatic amylase producing animal, the enzyme that breaks down starch. We were cooking starch before we were human in this form.

Our craving for carbohydrate varies from sweet to soothing and savory. It's not about salt. It's about satiation from carbohydrate. Many people will tell you that they don't feel well on fruit and lactose as their main carb sources. Starch solves their problem. Not salt. You don't know about it because they don't post publicly here too much.

Fruit is a light fuel for many. Starch is more energy producing for these types.

Its not just the salt but the lack of water. I drink probably at least a gallon and a half of liquids but I ingest around 2 tablespoons of salt throughout the day. Don't forget that the hypothyroid state is a state of constant hyponatremia

salt as in added salt isn't needed in the human diet. The Na:K ratio should remain about 1:4. If you sweat a bunch, consume more of both. Anywhere between 1 to 2 grams a day is very fine (from sedentary to very active).

I never really crave starches although I do eat a couple of bananas a day. If I do crave starch it's whole/sourdough bread and I'm not surprised, it's chock full of nutrients and goes very well with a bit of garlic butter.

salt as in added salt isn't needed in the human diet. The Na:K ratio should remain about 1:4.

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How did you end up with that ratio? @Travis suggested something like 1:10 and studies which checked the ratios in various tissues of bisons and sheepsh found different numbers and very different ratio depending on the tissues. In his article on salt Ray makes a good case for salt intake. Then some people who tried a low-salt diet found their cravings for salt adjusted over time, so that suggests eating fit based on cravings is not necessarily right.

salt as in added salt isn't needed in the human diet. The Na:K ratio should remain about 1:4. If you sweat a bunch, consume more of both. Anywhere between 1 to 2 grams a day is very fine (from sedentary to very active).

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I have wondered whether there is a difference between salt requirements of those who swim in sea vs those who don't. Most of human evolution has probably happened near oceans where getting enough salt was convenient.

actually 1:10 might be even better if we reduce salt even further and keep Potassium between 5 and 10 grams a day. But 1:4 is found in human and mammalian milk so I go by this ratio (seems below) plus it's intuitive; when I actually decide to track my weekly intake I end up around 1:4 give or take.

The 2001 Osaka study quoted here is a great read that shows how the metabolism goes crazy on an excessive salt intake.